CD Reviews

All of a Sudden: An Overlooked Jazz Gem

MiDoyle | Morris County, NJ | 06/21/2005

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Ms. Franks is a jazz player and women in jazz, especially musicians, have a long road to success. Why she has not become a household name, I can't be sure. I can only state that "All of a Sudden" remains one of my favorite jazz albums of the 1990s.

Her sound is rooted in the jazz traditions of Miles Davis and other purveyors of "Hard Bop," or the jazz genre popularized in the 1950s-60s that sought to emphasize melody and rhythm within a merging of gospel, soul, and R&B influences. Whatever you call it, it sounds GOOD.

Suffice to say, throughout the album, Rebecca Coupe Franks proves herself to be a talent to be taken seriously. Her trumpet sound is fluid, quiet, languid, hard, fluttering, swinging, commanding, collaborative, and never boring.

It's a terrific overlooked jazz album. One well worth seeking out for fans of the traditional merged with other influences(four stars).